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Former presidents tour tsunami sites

Two put aside politics

Posted: Sunday, February 20, 2005

By Christopher TorchiaAssociated Press

BAN NAM KHEM, Thailand - Former President Bill Clinton's voice trembled with emotion as he and George H.W. Bush put aside their once-bitter political rivalry Saturday in the intense heat of a Thai fishing village where children gave the American politicians drawings of giant waves sweeping away their relatives.

School children in red caps and white shirts waving paper American flags were among hundreds who greeted the former leaders in the shattered village of Ban Nam Khem where Bush and Clinton saw the tsunami's devastation at the start of their relief mission to the hardest hit countries. About 2,000 people - a third of those killed by the tsunami in Thailand, died in and around the village.

Clinton's eyes watered as he spoke about the trauma suffered by children in the village after two who had lost relatives presented the visitors with framed pictures tied in ribbons, one showing a giant wave and a rescue helicopter and the other of floodwaters sweeping away people, cars and boats.

"I thought about all of our religious traditions and how they all teach us how we are not really in control - but we don't really believe it until something like this happens, and it reminds us all to be a little more humble and grateful for every day," Clinton said at a news conference after his visit to the village.

President Bush asked his father and Clinton to lead the U.S. effort to provide private aid to hundreds of thousands of victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami. They also plan to visit Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

After arriving on the Thai resort island of Phuket on Saturday, the two men made their way by U.S. military helicopter and then motorcade to Ban Nam Khem, about 400 miles southwest of Bangkok. They later visited a memorial wall honoring foreign tourists who died, and they then dined with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"I don't think there's ever been a tragedy that affected the heartbeat of the American people as much as this tsunami has done," said the senior Bush. "I don't think you can put a limit on it. It's so devastating. They're still finding wreckage, still actually some bodies being recovered."

Though Clinton denied the elder Bush a second term in the White House, the former adversaries said their old differences were irrelevant to the task at hand.

"On issues about which there can be no debate, there should be no problems," Clinton said as Bush stood nearby.

Clinton said an estimated one-third of American households had contributed to tsunami relief.

"When it comes to helping people, politics is aside," Bush said. "I've enjoyed working with President Clinton. We were political adversaries. The current president and he don't always see eye to eye on issues. But that is not what's important here."

Clinton praised Thailand's response to the calamity and said he and Bush hoped they could learn more about how to help.

At a news conference with the Thai prime minister, Clinton said governments and private individuals had committed $7 billion to tsunami relief in Asia, but $4 billion still was needed for a reconstruction process that could take two years. He attributed the global outpouring of support to the "staggering" scale of the disaster.

The Thai prime minister said Thais were "very touched and grateful" for American support.

Back in Phuket, Bush and Clinton visited a white wooden wall bearing the flags of several dozen nations that lost citizens in the tsunami and observed a moment's silence after two Thai military servicemen in white uniforms laid a wreath.

The wall is next to a victim identification center where Kenyon Worldwide Disaster Management, a U.S.-based company, is helping to repatriate bodies. At least 1,000 bodies remain at the site.

The official tsunami death toll ranges from 169,070 to 178,118. The number of missing is believed to be as high as 128,426, with most presumed dead.